You may have read in various news outlets that EMI are pretty much totally fucked. Naturally, they've got to find some way of combatting this, and given that they own the legendary Abbey Road studios, it came to pass that they'd put them up for sale for around the price of £30m. Pricey?

It now turns out that Lord Andrew Lloyd-Webber has said he's very interested in buying the studios. He's also a man who is by no means short of a bob or two.

A spokesman said:

"Andrew Lloyd Webber is very interested in buying Abbey Road Studios. He first recorded there in 1967 with Tim Rice. Andrew has since recorded most of his musicals there, from Jesus Christ Superstar to his new musical Love Never Dies. He thinks it is vital that the studios are saved for the future of the music industry in the UK."

"Abbey Road has such great facilities, with three major recording studios, and Andrew has probably brought more musicians to record there than anyone else, because it has the capacity to record large orchestral productions."

Elsewhere, Lloyd-Webber's partner in crime, Tim Rice, has also expressed an interest in saving the studios, as part of a consortium, and Paul McCartney, who has obvious links with the studios, said that they should definitely be saved, but made no proposition that he dip his hand into his pocket.

Rice did, however, question the certainty of Abbey Road's future, given the ease of recording nowadays. There have also been suggestions that the National Trust - by Chris Evans, mainly - save the studios, though they haven't committed either way.